U.S. Attorneys General Form Secret Alliance To Help Energy Companiesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogDecember 8th, 2014Major energy companies have effectively created a secret law firm of conservative attorneys general to persuade Washington lawmakers to gut environmental regulations, according to an investigation by the New York Times. In return, these senior government officials have received millions of dollars to help them win political campaigns.

New European Commission Marred By Corporate Conflicts of Interestby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogNovember 2nd, 2014The newly elected president of the European Commission and his cabinet - who together form the central executive body for the 28 member states of the European Union - have deep ties with powerful corporate interests that make them poor choices to support citizen rights, say critics.

U.S. Congress Did Less for Corporate Accountability in 2013by Corporate Accountability CoalitionJune 4th, 2014The U.S. Congress saw no progresses toward corporate accountability and reining in corporate influence over public institutions in 2013, according to the newly released Corporate Accountability Coalition (CAC) Congressional Report Card.

Agribusiness Buys California Votesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogNovember 6th, 2012Big corporations bankrolled candidates for the 2012 elections in both the Democratic and Republican parties and bought their votes lock, stock and barrel, contributing over $2 billion out of the $6 billion spent this year. The biggest impact was on a California battle to require labeling of genetically altered products.

Forgiving Siemens: Unraveling a Tangled Tale of German Corruption in Greeceby Lena Mavraka and Vasilis Papatheodorou, Special to CorpWatchJune 11th, 2012To understand the pervasive corruption in Greek politics, it is necessary to examine the company that has probably paid the biggest bribes to both major parties: Siemens from Munich, Germany, a company with contracts in practically every ministry from culture to telecommunications.

How to Make A (Foreign) Wall Street Bank Vanishby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJune 7th, 2012How Deutsche Bank made its U.S. arm vanish from the records maintained by the Federal Reserve and saved itself from locking up $20 billion in deposits. (Hint: Hire a lobbyist on Capitol Hill)

Citizens United v. America's Citizensby Charlie Cray, Special to CorpWatchOctober 22nd, 2010The midterm elections are days away, but the winners are virtually certain: the corporations and conservative operatives like Karl Rove who have taken advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling to establish a well-heeled “shadow party” of networked trade associations and G.O.P. front groups.

U.S. Congressional Wartime Commission Targets Armed Contractorsby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchJune 23rd, 2010This week, almost a decade after the U.S. "War on Terror" began, the Commission on Wartime Contracting held two days of hearings into the role of private contractors in conducting and supporting war. The Congressional witness table included Aegis, DynCorp and Triple Canopy. Curiously, Blackwater was not called; and the CEO of Torres Advanced Enterprise Solutions failed to appear.

Afghanistan, Inc.: A CorpWatch Investigative Report (2006)by Fariba Nawa, Special to CorpWatchApril 30th, 2010The recent boom in humanitarian aid has an underbelly largely invisible to charity sector outsiders. “Easy money: the great aid scam," packs a biting critique (Linda Polman, The Sunday Times Online, April 25).
In 2006, CorpWatch’s "Afghanistan, Inc.", cited by Polman, drilled down on reconstruction dollars, in what’s become known as “Afghaniscam.” We bring our report to you again.

Afghanistan Spy Contract Goes Sour for Pentagonby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch March 16th, 2010Mike Furlong, a top Pentagon official, is alleged to have hired a company called International Media Ventures to supply information for drone strikes and assassinations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a complaint filed by the CIA and revealed by the New York Times on March 15.

Agility Attempts to Vault Fraud Chargesby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 1st, 2010Agility, a Kuwait-based multi-billion dollar logistics company spawned by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is facing criminal charges for over-billing the U.S. taxpayer on more than $8.5 billion worth of food supply contracts in the Iraq war zone. If the lawsuit is successful, the company could owe the U.S. government as much as $1 billion.

Shed a Tear for Our Democracyby Robert Weissman, Public CititzenJanuary 22nd, 2010Patronage from Exxon, Goldman Sachs, Pfizer and the rest of the Fortune 500 is already corroding the U.S. policy making process. In Citizens United v. FEC, the U.S. Supreme Court has now ruled that these corporate giants have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence election outcomes.

Bhopal: Generations of Poisonby Nityanand Jayaraman, Special to CorpWatchDecember 2nd, 2009On the night of December 2-3, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India leaked poisonous methyl iso cyanate into its densely populated neighborhood, killing 8,000 people in the immediate aftermath. 25 years later, Dow Chemical (which purchased Union Carbide in 2001) still refuses to clean up the site. But a new generation of Bhopal survivors is taking on the fight.

Black & Veatch's Tarakhil Power Plant: White Elephant in Kabulby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatch November 19th, 2009In a secluded valley a few miles from Kabul's international airport, $285 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars have flowed into a Black & Veatch-built power plant outside Tarakhil village. But, far from the public relations coup the project was intended to supply, the plant has run into problems with planning, cost over-runs and alleged corruption.

Spies for Hire: New Online Database of U.S. Intelligence Contractorsby Tim Shorrock, Special to CorpWatch November 16th, 2009CorpWatch joins with Tim Shorrock today, the first journalist to blow the whistle on the privatization of U.S. intelligence, in releasing Spies for Hire.org, a groundbreaking database focusing on the dozens of corporations that provide classified intelligence services to the United States government.

Is Halliburton Forgiven and Forgotten? Or How to Stay Out of Sight While Profiting From the War in Iraqby Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch.comJune 3rd, 2009At Halliburton's recent annual shareholders meeting in Houston, all was remarkably staid as the company celebrated its $4 billion in 2008 operating profits, a striking 22% return at a time when many companies are announcing record losses.
Just three months ago, however, Halliburton didn't hesitate to pay $382 million in fines to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of the settlement of a controversial KBR gas project in Nigeria in which the company admitted to paying a $180 million bribe to government officials.

The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Reportby Antonia Juhasz, http://www.TrueCostofChevron.com/May 26th, 2009Chevron's 2008 annual report is a glossy celebration of the company's most profitable year in its history. What Chevron's annual report does not tell its shareholders is the true cost paid for those financial returns, or the global movement gaining voice and strength against the company's abuses. This jointly-produced report documents negative impacts of Chevron's operations around the globe, in stark contrast to the message sent by the company's ubiquitous "Human Energy" advertising campaign.

Regulating Ramatex: Authorities Shut Out as Malaysian Investor Threatens Namibian Environmentby Moses Magadza, Special to CorpWatch April 5th, 2009For nearly six years Ramatex Textile and Garment Factory barred government regulators from entering industrial premises leased from the City of Windhoek. Ramatex came to Namibia in 2001, lured by the newly implemented African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Evidence of environmental violations finally emerged after the company absconded.